


Laughter

by BritChick91



Series: The Adventures of Lydia and Serena Hawke [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: F/M, Love Epiphany, serena's not that far behind, set in act 2 of dragon age 2, varric realises he's got it bad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-09-01 09:39:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8619385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BritChick91/pseuds/BritChick91
Summary: When Varric realises he's never seen Serena Hawke laugh, a slight obsession takes hold.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is set just after the beginning of Act II of Dragon Age II.

It was at some unsacred hour that Varric awoke with a start to the realisation that he had never heard Serena Hawke laugh.

Lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling of The Hanged Man’s finest room (the one with only one crack in the wall and all the blood cleared up before it could stain the floorboards), Varric reviewed every moment he could remember in Serena’s company. Inevitably, this also meant plenty of memories of her siblings.

Lydia, as she was in so many areas of her life, was loud when she laughed, but sometimes it rang hollow, a woman so used to being the life and soul of every room that even she wasn’t always sure if she really found something funny, or just felt she should.

Carver never failed to remind Varric of a dog when he laughed; his laughs sharp and ending as fast as they’d began, and often filled with too many other, less joyful, emotions.

Bethany, by contrast, was prone to titter, usually at her sibling’s antics, the sound of a girl who had been forced to stay quiet and unassuming her entire life. Varric couldn’t help but wonder if the half-relief of no longer having to hide her magic in the tower might coax some volume, some boldness from the girl, but he doubted it.

 

But even on the group’s wildest nights, with Carver and Lydia and Aveline and Isabela all shouting at each other, the group swapping crude statements and anecdotes as quickly as gold as they played Wicked Grace, even when full of glasses of wine pressed into her hands by well-meaning sisters and pirates and healers, Varric had never seen Serena laugh, not in any form.

It was not that she didn’t have personality, oh no, she had that by the mile, if you knew how to look for it. Varric could see it in the exasperated fondness she held for her twin, the respectful camaraderie she had with many of the others, the wicked wit she’d obviously had to repress for years. No wonder nothing she said bothered Lydia a whit – the elder Hawke had probably been the sole recipient of her sister’s sharp tongue their entire lives.

Serena was a lot slower to smile than her sister, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t. It often started as a curve to the mouth that instantly made her look a great deal younger, before eventually her lips would lift to reveal her teeth in a manner it seemed she could barely hold back, and that was then it would seem every light in the room would dim and the shadows would grow until Serena was all he could see.

He was going off topic at the speed of horses. He should just turn over and try to sleep, but something about this was bothering him, for reasons he hardly dared to let himself examine.

He could understand why laughter wasn’t all that common to the Hawkes at the moment – after all, it wasn’t the Hawke siblings anymore, just the Hawke twins. They were both muted, saddened by such a sudden loss, both dealing with it in the same ways (Varric had seen Lydia leaving one of the other rooms at The Hanged Man, followed briefly after by Cullen – there was a strange match, with Cullen’s throat still red from where Lydia had pressed her knives as he came to take her sister away). But even before then, he hadn’t heard even a chuckle, not even a brief exhale of breath to indicate that Serena was amused. Surely they weren’t all that dull to her?

And so it was, half delirious with lack of sleep, that Varric swore to himself that before the year was out, he would hear Serena laugh.

 

***

 

He started small, and cast his net wide to avoid suspicion. When they all met a few nights later in The Hanged Man, he began telling stories, first to Merril, then Isabela joined, and soon the whole group were listening, cards abandoned on the table (he noted with a touch of pride that most of them hadn’t even bothered to put their cards face down when they abandoned the game). He told stories until his throat was hoarse, until even Aveline, Anders and Fenris were near tears of mirth, and still Serena did not break, although she sat and listened intently with a warm smile.

A lesser man would have accepted that, but Varric was no lesser man.

The next step took more careful consideration, followed by a tot of whiskey and a loss of dignity. Serena and Lydia had purchased a Mabari puppy, in what they completely denied was a comfort tactic due to the younger twins being gone, and the rest of the group privately all agreed was obviously was a comfort tactic due to the younger twins being gone. Both girls doted on the pup (who they still couldn’t decide on a name for, and was looking like he might spend his entire life known to all as Puppy) and had begun bringing him to gatherings at The Hanged Man to get him used to crowds. Puppy was barely six months old, and in the month alone that the girls had been raising him, he’d doubled in size, now at the human knee. It took perfect positioning of the drinks on the table, and a scrap of meat discretely drawn to the Mabaris attention before being cast under the table to cause Puppy to knock into just the right table leg to send a single jug of mead flying…

Right into Varric’s lap.

The entire table had leapt up at this, causing quite the commotion. Isabela was the first to go, cackling as she was wont to do and setting Merril into giggles within seconds. Anders sniggered when he realised exactly what had happened. Lydia’s first thought was for the dog, but once she had a hand on Puppy’s collar, she started laughing, half shocked, apologising to Varric for the mess, then for laughing at the mess, while he accepted the apologies while exaggerating his discomfort at the spill for the table’s benefit.

He saw Serena cover her mouth with a the side of one hand, eyes bright enough that he knew it was from mirth, but still not a sound passed her lips.

 

***

 

Varric still had enough clarity to admit he’d become slightly obsessed.

He’s tried everything, from pranks on other members of the group, to new stories, to lewd songs bought from every bard in the area. He’d hired entertainers and performers of every kind, and nothing had worked. To make matters worse, the other’s had noticed now, and he’d heard them discuss the matter. They thought he had finally broken down over Bartrand’s betrayal in the Deep Roads, and was trying to act as if nothing was wrong. To his external gratitude, he hadn’t heard Serena pass comment on the matter as he pressed himself to the wall outside his own rooms (he knew they meant well, but to be discussed like idle gossip rankled).

Then, to his great surprise, Serena paid him a visit at his rooms – usually he came to the Hawke’s in their new fancy manor, or they came as a pair. Serena gave him a small smile as he gaped like an idiot.

“Will you walk with me, Varric?”

Dumbfounded, Varric was suddenly hit with paralysing fear. She knew. She knew about his weird fixation and was doing him the service of a quiet rebuke before she set her sister on him. Or her dog.

Actually he’d rather take his chances with the dog.

Realising she was still waiting for an answer, he could only nod dumbly, and the two walked in silence in the direction of the docks. Finally, they stopped near the Qunari quarters, and Serena gazed at the water.

“Are you well, Varric?” she asked at last.

Varric looked at her, stunned.

“What? I’m fine! Never been better.” he protested.

Serena gave him a cool look, and he deflated.

“You forget; I’ve lived with Lydia all my life. I know a liar when I see one.” she reminded him gently.

“I’m… trying.” Varric admitted. “I’ve been, distracted. Preoccupied.”

Serena nodded.

“If I may… have you been trying to cheer me up?” she asked, faintly.

Varric stared at the water and wondered at the prospect of stepping over the side into the sea.

“A little.” he admitted at last. “Mostly I’ve just made the others think I’m mad.”

“I understand.” said Serena. “But you’re allowed to be sad too, you know?”

Varric looked at her, slightly uncomfortable, and tried to divert.

“You and your siblings should go back to that Maker of yours and register a complaint; because I think he gave you three of four shares of sensitivity. Terrible measurement skills.”

Serena turned a way for a moment, and her shoulder shook slightly, and for a terrifying moment Varric thought he had gravely offended her. But then she threw back her hair, and he realised she was laughing. And when he heard it, it was the sweetest sound he had ever heard, far closer to a giggle than he’s have ever expected, and it made Serena’s entire face look light and mischievous.

“You’re a good man Varric.” said Serena. “And the sooner you realise that, the better off you’ll be.”

And then, to Varric’s complete shock, she leant down a touch and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Embarrassed, she straightened and took a few steps away.

“I’ll see you for Wicked Grace tonight?”

Varric could do was nod as she made her way up the steps.

_Oh._

He was in love with Serena.

Now he’d heard her laugh, he was lost.

Completely besotted.

Oh _Flames_ …


End file.
